How A Man Shall Be Armed: 13th Century
Royal Armouries・4 minutes read
Armor in the 13th century evolved with new pieces like male leggings, gambeson, and rigid defenses to enhance protection. Knights would wear various layers of armor, including a full male shirt, fur coat with coat of arms, and a great helm for head protection, along with a smaller heater shield due to added leg protection.
Insights
- Armor in the 13th century consisted of various components like male leggings, gambeson, and rigid plate defenses, showcasing a layered approach to protection that evolved over time.
- The integration of different armor pieces, such as the male shirt, tilt of plates, and heater shield, highlights the intricate design and strategic considerations in medieval armor development to provide comprehensive defense for knights in battle.
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Recent questions
What were the key components of medieval knight armor?
Leggings, gambeson, shirt, mitten, plates, helmet, shield.
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Summary
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Evolution of Medieval Knight Armor
- In the 13th century, armor evolved with new pieces developed by armories. Knights would start by wearing male leggings called shutters, fastened with laces known as points. These leggings covered the legs and sometimes extended to cover the foot, eliminating the need for separate boots. The knight would then don a thickly padded garment called a gambeson for protection against crushing blows, followed by a male shirt with full-length sleeves and a mitten over the hand, secured in place by laces passing through the male at the wrist and elbow.
- To enhance armor protection, armors developed rigid defenses like the tilt of plates, overlapping iron plates riveted to a fabric cover worn over the head. Additional pieces of rigid armor were created to cover the arms and left arm. Once the body armor was in place, the knight would put on a fur coat displaying his coat of arms, a sword belt, an Armin cap, and a volet of male with a clap or vent tail for neck and face protection. Different helmet options were available, with the knight wearing a great helm that covered the head but had limited visibility and breathing holes. The shields became smaller and lighter, known as a heater shield, due to the added leg protection from the male leggings.
